Orchard heater



B. E. HOGER ORCHARD HEATER Aug. 15, 1950' Filed July 20, 1945 m m N m W/ 5 Patents Aug. 15, i956 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,518,689 ORCHARD HEATER Burton E. Hagar, Huntington 1ark, Galif., as-

sig'nor to Norris Stampifi'gand Manufacturing Company, Los Angeles, Calif. 7 Application July 20, 1945, Serial No. 6,059

This invention relates to orchard heaters an'd has for an object the provision of a heater of extreme simplicity, economy of manufacturing cost and in operation and adapted to generate a maximum of heat with a minimum of smoke and smudge.

'It is we1lknown that oil which is burned in a standard heater while producin'g a substantial heat around and above a heater also produces a disadvantageous smoke or smudge in the vicinity .of the'heater. Hence, it is an object to provide ,a heater which will be as free of smoke and orchard heater of relatively simple character can b8 produced which will be of low initial cost and x u effect) and it is an object of thi in;

vention' to provide such-a heater which, briefly, includes the usual fuel receptacle. with a' stack superimposed thereon which is operated as a combustion chamber and also'for discharging" the products of combustion, and embodying a localized gas generating" zone within the 'e'c to which oxygen from the atmosphere' is 'y admitted in regulated volume and a pilot flame for igniting the locally g'enerated'gas;

An object also is t'o'provide mea s hinthe stack and adjacent a combustioii chamber in which the volatile e ements are cerisiimfeidand which is effective for, first,' refstr icting the'effec; tive area of the stack" and jor' retard'ng the out;- flow of the products'of combustion second,jior centralizing the gases in thestacksofastoefiect more perfect combustion thereof befpije their discharge; third; to accelerateand more" 'se come bustion in the secondarystageby rea 3 addedheated' surfaces of the said e'le ourth, to provide means atthe junc on stack and the receptacle' for admitt I? stream of air into the centralportion of the st which will rise through the stack', will' j stitute an air wash inwardly of th" ll"of" the stack so that the annularj coluninoi air will'be interposed between the wallandbur Q i .lI is a o i dia sdiwq t li thea r in ei'e lth top of the fuel receptacle that air' wiilbeadmite ted tothe receptae'le'at a high ve loei tyiandthe air stream' will be directed against the wall or 1 Claim. (01. 158'-91) 2 the receptacle in such a manner and at such an angle that, regardless of the level of the fuel, a pilot burning of the fuel may be maintained for releasing the higher fractions of the fuel for secondary and final combustion in the stack. Hencasatisfactory operation of the heater is possible when the fuel level is low. 7

.Generally, it is an object to combine with a fuel receptacle whereby the heat from a primary orpilot burning of the fuel may be transmitted by radiation and convection to the remainder of the receptacle and associated parts for the purpose of heating thefuel to a point at which all off the fuel is volatilized, and a secondary combustion chamber within the lower portion of the stack fore burning the released gases, and in or adjacent which I provide an element for retardi 'n'g, centralizing and accelerating the burning of the gases released from the fuel. Other objects will appear as the description of my heater progresses; r v i I' haveshown a preferred form of heater embodying my improvements in the accompanying drawing, subject to modification, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In said drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section;

, Fig. 2' is a fragmentary plan of the same on line 2i 2 or Fig; 1; p

Fig. 3 a fragmentary section of the lower portionof the stack on line 33 ofFig. 1;

Figsre" and'5 are-,respectively, a side elevation and a top plan view of one form of an element insertible in the stack. for retarding, diftusing and accelerating the combustion of the generated gases. g v

Briefly described; .an orchard heater constructed in accorda'ncewith my invention includes arecepta'cle A forming a base and adapted to contain a suitable quantity of fuel, a top B adapted to tightly fit the upper portion of the receptacle oil of desired gravity. Top B is of inverted panlike cross section and is adapted to telescopically lit the upturned annular neck l of the receptacle top B and to be held thereon in substantially air tight relationship. Air inlet E is of tubular form and is suitably affixed in tilted position to top B so that its lower extremity communicates with the fuel chamber 2 of the receptacle A.

Air regulator F snugly fits the top of inlet E and has an arm 3 extended therefrom for manual operation so that the regulator may be moved relative to the top of inlet E in order to vary the inflow of air from the atmosphere to the interior of the receptacle A. To such end the top of the inlet E and the web of the regulator F are provided with apertures 4 and 5, one of which is in the inlet E and the other in regulator F, one of said apertures being elongated, as shown, or otherwise formed so that in any event the movement of member F relative to inlet E will afford a complete or restricted inflow of air to the receptacle, as may be required for satisfactory operation of the heater.

Portion C of the stack is formed with a plurality of rows of louvres 6 which, as shown in Fig. 1, are formed with overhanging outwardly disposed portions I and inwardly projecting lower portions 8, between which air passages 9 are provided.

Now, referring to Figs. 1, 4 and 5, wherein I have shown the combined retarding, centralizing and heating element G, it will be observed that the preferred form of said element as shown is substantially frusto-conical (but not necessarily) with a restricted circular end portion 10 and a plurality of'alternating legs H and slots l2 extended from said circular portion. Such a form of device is provided for the purpose of readily inserting the element into the stack at selected positions, inasmuch as the legs thereof are reasonably and sufliciently yieldable for such purpose, and serves to direct air and generated gases into the central portion of the secondary combustion chamber E3 of the stack. The element G is inserted in the portion C of the stack from the bottom and then moved upwardly to a desired position whereat the lower ends of the legs may rest upon the inwardly turned portions 8 of the louvres E and, if desired, may be fixed in position by spot welding or otherwise. A purpose of element G, of which one or more may be employed in the stack, is to retard and centralize the volatile elements to an extent which will prevent the discharge from the stack D of any unburned quantities of the combustible elements of the fuel. This result is accomplished, at least in part, by the preheating of the element G to 'a redhot state, due to local combustion which serves to almost, if not completely, effect combustion of the generated gases with but slight, if any, unburned carbon particles therein and thus to discharge hot gases instead of, or unaccompanied by, smoke or smudge from the heater.

Of course air is freely admitted to the secondary combustion chamber l3 through the apertures 9 in order to supply sufficient oxygen from the atmosphere, by means of which complete combustion is effected before the products are discharged from the stack.

The lower end of stack C is corrugated at l4 and thus provides alternating air passages l5 around and internally of neck I of the top B through which air is admitted downwardly to the fuel receptacle above the level of the fuel and thence upwardly in an annular stream adjacent the inner surface of the stack and forms an air wash outwardly of the burning gases.

It will be obvious, from a consideration of the foregoing detailed description, that the operation and use of my orchard heater is as follows:

When the receptacle A is supplied with a suitable fuel and ignited at a point below air inlet E, as by means of a pilot flame, the metallic parts of the heater and the fuel oil are heated to a point which will effect release of readily combustible high fractions from the body of the fuel.

With the reference to the element G it may be understood that the particular form of element shown herein is not necessary to perform the functions herein named, inasmuch as such ele ment may be of any of various forms so long as it tends to retard the outflow of the products of primary combustion, to centralize and direct the gases from a normally straight path toward the center of the stack for increasin combustion thereof, so as to thoroughly consume the combustible fractions thereof by reason of superheating through the added radiation and convection afforded by said element so that maximum consumption of the smoke creating elements is effected.

It is well known in the art that fuel used in orchard heaters will generate combustible gases upon the application of a flame thereto and, also, that in a closed receptacle, such as is shown at A, wherein the liquid fuel has a substantially large expanse, a primary burning of the generated gases will occur in that portion of the receptacle nearest the air inlet E, because the greatest volume of oxygen is present at such localized position. However, when the fuel is ignited, as by means of the introduction of a suitable priming fluid of highly volatile character, and a torch is applied, when the priming fluid has been consumed the primary combustion of the generated elements will continue in the restricted zone adjacent the air inlet, and through radiation of heat and convection the fuel will be sufliciently heated to give off fractional volatile elements which are drawn from the receptacle A upwardly in and through the stack, after having been mixed with air entering through louvre passages 9, and having been, of course, ignited by the pilot flame beneath or adjacent air inlet E.

Preferably, but not necessarily, inlet E is slightly tilted (to the right, as shown in Fig. 1) so as to direct the admitted air downwardly at a suitable angle and velocity against a portion of the wall of receptacle A, so as to confine the pilot flame as nearly as possibleto a marginal area of the fuel receptacle.

Thus, when the pilot flame is instituted the heater will operate continuously in the manner stated until the fuel level reaches a too low level, or is exhausted.

- It is emphasized that the purpose of my heater is to obtain a maximum combustion of fuel and resultant smudgeless products of combustion. To further contribute to such end I may provide on the top of stack D an inturned member 11 which restricts the stack outlet and retards discharge to a desired extent, so as to aid in directing the burning gases and products of combustion toward the center of the stack in a manner similar to the operation of member G.

Now, referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that the receptacle is indicatedas having a low fuel leveland the inflow of air through inlet E directs the air against the wall of the receptacle above the fuel level where a pilot flame is main.

tained, but the area of the air inlet (about inch) and the volume of air being insufficient to supply oxygen for a general or widespread burning of the fuel is, however, sufficient to maintain combustion and generate enough heat for effecting a release of the lighter and more volatile fractions of fuel which rise in the stack and are mixed with air entering the stack through louvre passages 9 and are, of course, ignited by the pilot flame.

Element G operates to direct the gases during combustion toward the center of the stack and the rising air wash stream from passages l5 tends to confine the burning to the inner area of the stack and thereby, as far as possible, prevent unnecessary dissipation of heat laterally around the stack.

I claim:

An orchard heater comprising: a fuel receptacle, a stack supported thereon, an air inlet means provided in the top of the receptacle and adapted. to direct inflowing air toward a portion of the wall of the receptacle whereby when the fuel adjacent to the air inlet is ignited pilot flame may be maintained in the receptacle for heating the fuel and thereby releasing lighter fractional elements from the fuel, said stack having a plurality of louvres formed in the wall thereof through which air is admitted to the stack, and a frusto-conical baille member positioned in the stack adjacent some of said louvres and formed with legs adapted to engage the wall of the stack adjacent said louvres, whereby air admitted through said louvres is mixed with the fractional elements which rise through the frusto-conical member and burned in the stack instead of being exhausted as unconsumed products of combustion, the legs of said frusto-conical member being yieldable to permit insertion of said frusto-conical member in the stack and to support said member at difierent louvres in said stack.

BURTON E. HOGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,067,981 Hamilton July 22, 1913 1,077,009 Smith et a1 Oct. 28, 1913 1,086,275 Chinn Feb. 3, 1914 1,091,170 Smith et a1 Mar. '24, 1914 1,091,216 Hamilton Mar. 24, 1914 1,100,101 Scheu June 1-6, 1914 1,125,014 Dunn Jan. 12, 1915 1,304,820 Stollberg May 27, 1919 1,419,570 Keller June 13, 1922 1,468,421 Sheldon Sept. 18, 1923 2,050,760 Mahlstedt Aug. 11, 1936 2,158,636 Pheysey May 16, 1939 2,165,279 Lambert et a1 July 11, 1939 2,370,116 Anderson Feb. 27, 1945 

